Former BBC star Jermaine Jenas has spoken out about ‘losing everything’ after being axed by the broadcaster.
The TV presenter, who hosted The One Show alongside Alex Jones, hit the headlines last year when he was dismissed with immediate effect for inappropriate behaviour.
It emerged that complaints had been made about explicit messages he sent to colleagues, which also led to him being dropped by his talent agency.
Jenas, 42, admitted to sending inappropriate texts to two BBC co-workers but made it known he wasn’t happy about how things ended, vowing to seek legal action and reminding the public there are ‘two sides to every story’.
Almost one year later, however, the broadcaster has acknowledged that he dealt with the repercussions in the ‘wrong way’.
He also reflected on how his sexting scandal ultimately led to the end of his 14-year marriage to wife Ellie Penfold, from whom he confirmed his split in March.
Speaking candidly to comedian Katherine Ryan and pro boxer Derek Chisora on his Let Me Tell You Something podcast, Jenas began: ‘I broke a vow. I feel my level of punishment was up there. I had to take it and have some broad shoulders and handle it, and I feel like I did that.’
On the nature of the texts he was caught sending, he likened them to the racy Jamie Dornan Fifty Shades franchise.
‘It was Christian Grey in text messages, put it that way. It was sexting, as simple as that, but it was initiated to me, and then I responded.
‘It wasn’t just me going out of my way, and it definitely 100% wasn’t, “If you do this, I will help you in your work.”
‘There was no power element to it going on.’
Jenas added that cracks had already started to show in his marriage by the time his infidelity was exposed.
‘There’s a lot of stuff with me and Ellie where we weren’t in the best place ourselves,’ he said.
‘And things were just spiralling a little bit. In no way is that blame. I’m fully accepting responsibility.
‘I dealt with it wrong and got heavily punished for it by losing pretty much everything that I had at that time.’
In the aftermath of Jenas’s scandal, he had an ‘excruciating’ online meeting with HR bosses at the BBC, in which he was shown some of the explicit messages he’d sent.
Jenas previously admitted that the call took place while he was on a family holiday, during which he sneaked off to join the Zoom and lied to his wife.
In his first interview after the texts were made public, he said he was ‘deeply sorry’.
Jenas, who was actually presenting live on talkSPORT the moment news of his firing broke, told The Sun: ‘I did nothing illegal—these were inappropriate messages between two consenting adults.
‘I am ashamed, and I am deeply sorry. I have let myself down, my family, friends, and colleagues down, and I owe everyone an apology—especially the women with whom I was messaging. I am so, so sorry.
‘I am sorry for what I have put them through.’
He added frankly: ‘I think it would be fair to say I have a problem. I know I self-sabotage and have a self-destructive streak when it comes to my relationship especially, and I know I need help. And I am getting help.’
Jenas continued to say he’d made ‘a lot of mistakes’ and had booked in for therapy to ‘try and address’ his ‘issues’ causing him to ‘hurt the people [he] love[s]’.
‘I do consider it cheating, yes, although nothing physical ever happened,’ he stated.
At the time, the Beeb confirmed Jenas’s sacking with a simple statement to Metro: ‘We can confirm that he is no longer part of our presenting lineup.’
Later in the month, BBC boss Tim Davie sent an email to all staff addressing the latest ‘shocking’ headlines, which also included former highest-paid newsreader Huw Edwards pleading guilty to making indecent images of children and bullying accusations on set of Strictly Come Dancing.
The Director General wrote in part of his message across the company that it had been ‘a demanding period for the BBC and everyone who works within it.’
While Jenas no longer works for the BBC, he eventually made a comeback to talkSPORT, declaring earlier this year that he would be a ‘better person’.
‘The last six, seven months have been extremely tough for myself and my family,’ the dad-of-four said in an interview with Shebahn Aherne.
‘But it’s also been a really good opportunity to kind of take stock, have a good look at why you find yourself in these kind of situations, and start to have some honest conversations, really.
‘With yourself, with other people, people that are close to you, people that have been very supportive during this period of time, and just kind of work your way back to a position where I can get back to doing what I love most.’
He added that he was ‘obviously very grateful’ to talkSPORT for still giving him a platform and allowing him to ‘get back to doing what [he] loves most’.
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